60. Parker
PARKER
The six of us climb the stairs, and power swells through me.
No one would dare to touch us or her. The tears and screams of my enemies are music to my ears.
A small smile tugs the side of my mouth.
Security arrives, preventing Arabella from beating Liliana as she lies on the ground, and ending the beautiful show that I directed.
It’s not my major, but I’m obviously gifted.
The officer yells for everyone to disperse, and they groan as they clear the area.
They don’t need to worry too much. There’s more entertainment to come, of course.
Orion and I put so much into this revenge.
We didn’t have any problems working together, but things with us have been a little weird since.
He’s watching me too closely, and with Hadrian already interested in what I’m doing with my free time, I’m feeling the noose tightening around my neck.
Can I keep my secrets forever when Sable only keeps on digging her way deeper into my chest?
By the time we make it to the side exit leading to the spiral staircase, security is upon them, pulling them from each other, unfortunately.
Lex leads the group, and soon enough, we're back at our wing. Tension radiates from the group. Orion and I didn’t share any of our plans with the others, and clearly, they came to fight before asking any questions.
“What the fuck happened?” Lex demands.
“I took care of things.” I shrug and close the door behind me.
“We took care of things, Parker,” Orion corrects, but really? Could he have done any of this if I wasn’t paying much deeper attention to Sable than he realizes?
Sable's eyes are wild, and I wonder how much of our conversation she’s listening to when she seems totally dazed.
I expected to see her smile, and I deserved it after literal years of hard work.
It took me days to finalize the plans, but the information I spilled?
That came from my hard work. Where is my fucking applause?
“What did you guys do?” she asks, but her eyes are already pointed at Orion, and that insults me much more deeply than I expected it to. He came to me begging to get involved, but I’m the one who leveled that bitch once and for all.
“Why do you think we did anything?” Orion asks as he sits on her bed and snuggles down.
“I’m not dignifying that question with an answer, spill.” Sable’s lost look fades completely as she hides her real thoughts. Something is bothering her, and I need to know what.
“It was me,” I say, stepping forward. “They played the wrong game, and they won stupid prizes.”
“How could you possibly even know the things you had proof of, Parker?” she asks, delicate brow twisting. I know her well enough to know she’s thinking too hard about this, and that’s dangerous for me.
“Don’t leave me out,” Orion says. “I helped.”
My hand grazes her cheek, thinking of all the lies still left between us and feeling vaguely sick. “Does that matter?”
“Yes,” everyone but Sable says.
All eyes are on me, some narrowed, some raised eyebrows. I usually get a lot of attention, but never for something that I’m actually proud of. Protecting Sable is the best thing I can do with my time. I was begging for an opportunity to bury Liliana anyway.
“You all are missing the point. I won!” I say.
Sable shakes her head, and that only pushes me more off balance. “You know, Parker,” Sable says. “There are a lot of things about our relationship I’ve had questions about.”
“Then why haven’t you asked them?” I taunt, hoping my show of aggression will make her back down, but when has it ever?
“ Why do you have that much dirt on Liliana?” she pushes. “She’s sleeping with Arabella’s brother? That she was blackmailing her family? All of that is really intimate.”
I sigh and sit on the cuck chair, rolling my shoulders back. “Liliana has been pulling this con for a long time. It was necessary to call her out. This is what needed to happen to keep you safe.”
“We understand that,” Soren interrupts. “The question here is, why do you , Parker, know all that?” His eyes are questioning, and I get it.
He thinks he knows everything about me, but I don’t think anyone in this room has been really honest. Not with ourselves and not with each other.
For one thing, I’m the only one brave enough to say I need Sable.
She’s not like the Offerings before. She’s not a distraction but the whole purpose.
“Something is definitely up,” Orion says. “I didn’t want to push him while we were planning this amazing revenge, but he knows literally everything about Sable and every person she’s ever known. It’s weird.”
“It’s not fucking weird!” I insist. “I’m dedicated.”
“Dedicated to what, exactly, Parker?” Sable asks.
“Keeping you safe,” he insists. “Liliana was too damn close to you, and I didn’t trust her. I made it my job to know what was going on with her to keep you safe.”
“What the hell does that mean, Parker?” Fear swims in her eyes, and I hate it. I try to make eye contact, but she won’t look at me.
“How long have you been following Sable?” Lex asks.
The words I hoped they would never ask sit between us.
How do I even answer that question? The room fills with electric tension, and all eyes are on me, even Orion, when everyone else is quiet.
I let the silence stretch. This was bound to fall apart anyway, but I’ll admit I was so distracted by my revenge that I didn’t think it would be today.
I assumed Orion was an idiot who wouldn’t notice what I was doing, but he’s much more like his brother than either of them realizes. Goddammit, I overplayed my hand.
Sable laughs. “Obviously, you followed me to the hotel, right?” Her voice pitches high.
“You pretended to be my hero, so when was it? Right after my accident.” I can tell that would be the easiest option for her to accept.
That’s why she’s yelling it at me, but I think everyone in this room knows that’s just a dream.
My gaze doesn’t waver, begging for her to connect the dots.
How many times have I watched her from afar?
How many times could I swear our gazes locked?
She watched me back sometimes, didn’t she?
She felt me the way I felt her. I’ve fucking loved this woman as long as I’ve known my own name is Parker Hollow.
I step toward her, slapping her hands away when she tries to avoid my touch. Tipping her chin up, I force her to look at me. I stare at her with everything I’ve ever felt, every lie, every hidden moment, compelling her to understand, to remember.
“Thank fuck, you’re safe now,” I deadpan. Her eyes flash, a thousand emotions written across her expression. Her mind reels, and I nearly watch her memories as she blinks. Tears swim in her eyes, and she closes them just as the realization sets in.
“You pulled me out of that river.”
“You swam out,” I tell her. I’ve never wanted credit for the most exceptional show of her determination. All I did was pound the extra water out of her lungs and keep her warm. But the reason I was there at all? Sable.
Everyone around me moves. Shouts of outrage, accusations of betrayal, someone is already wondering how I was lucky enough to get Sable as an Offering, but I block their voices and stare at the woman I’ve done everything for.
“I broke when I watched him drive you over the edge,” I whisper as I kiss her tear-streaked lips.
She doesn’t kiss me back, but I don’t care right now.
This pain is still raw, never having a chance to let her know just how much she means to me.
“I thought I had lost you,” I confess, and even with a little of the truth out there, she doesn’t understand just how deep that wound would go.
I kiss her again, and this time her lips move, but there’s still a heavy fear between us.
Someone yanks me back, pulling me away from Sable and making her stumble forward.
Like a predator being separated from his meal, I growl and advance on the closest person to me.
Lex barely has a chance to flinch before my punch lands.
His face flashes with confusion as he stumbles back.
My knuckles burn, and I realize just how hard I hit him.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asks, furious.
“Don’t ever take her from me,” I spit. “She’s mine, and no one will ever take her from me again.”
“Again?” Lex asks, rubbing his mouth. “Did you plan all this?”
“You think it was fucking luck?” I demand.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Orion starts, hands in the air as if he can stop us all in our tracks. “What do you mean you planned this? She signed up to be the Offering. There’s a contract. Even if you put her name on the list, it’s not like you’re some grand puppet master. She agreed!”
Sable has assumed she carried this secret alone, but she hasn’t.
I knew all along she never even saw that contract.
The only surprise has been how willingly she’s played along once arriving.
I always assumed she would cry uninformed, but she’s impressed me at every turn.
It worked in my favor for a lot of reasons.
“That’s what you were talking about?” Soren demands. “That’s what you meant when you said you didn’t know?” His face twists with rage, and Sable’s expression says she’s never seen concern on him before.
“I was invited to be a student at Bellthorn, and I was offered a scholarship I never applied for.”
Lex drops his hand, forgetting the pain. “You never said anything to any of us. Not even on the first day when I…” He trails off, and I wonder what he’s remembering.
“What was there to say? You wouldn’t have believed me anyway.” Sable’s words chill the air more than my admission. They look at each other, and from the guilt on their faces, they know she’s right.